CLARKSVILLE - A love of sports and a career as a banker fostered a passion for community that drove this one-time financier to pursue a career in economic development.

This week, Travis Stephens started work as the chief executive officer/chief economic development officer (CEO/CEDO) of the Clarksville-Johnson County Regional Economic Development Organization (CREDO), which is housed within the Clarksville-Johnson County Chamber of Commerce.

"Banks really like to be involved in the community, and after a few years, I found myself wanting to do more community stuff than banking stuff, and I discovered the master's program in community and economic development at UCA (University of Central Arkansas) in Conway," he said.

His sense of community was strengthened by his involvement with various sporting activities his four daughters participate in, as well as serving on several boards in his native Fort Smith.

"We're a huge sports family, and I'm very involved with my kids," he said.

Stephens said he coaches softball and volleyball and serves on the board of a volleyball club in Fort Smith. In addition, during his time in Fort Smith, he served on several boards including Girls Inc., Leadership Fort Smith alumni and an advisory council for the athletics program at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith.

He plans to use his love of sports as a platform to bring one source of community growth to Johnson County, by way of promoting sporting tourism - hosting youth tournaments and other sporting events.

"Sports tourism is a growing industry that we can take advantage of," he said, later adding "there's big money in that because people spend the night in hotels and go out and eat and spend their money in town while they're here."

Stephens said he loves Clarksville and feels the community is "poised" for economic growth.

"The great thing about Clarksville is it really is its own standalone community," he said. "... For the most part, it's pretty well self-sufficient. It's not a suburb of anywhere, it's got its own identity, and I was really impressed with the progressive nature of the community and the people I've met. They already have in place a percentage of sales tax that goes toward economic development, which is light years ahead of most communities, even larger communities."

One standout feature of the community, Stephens said, is the Marvin Vinson Multi-purpose Building, which opened in 2002 and boasts an indoor walking/jogging track, two full-size basketball courts, meetings rooms, a computer room and concession stands.

"When I saw that, that opened my eyes," he said. "That was very telling of the people and the direction they want to move in."

Two of the first items on Stephen's agenda will be to revamp the organization's website to better provide information to industrial site selectors and to hire a director for the chamber of commerce.

"There's so many companies that are looking to expand or build a facility in another location," he said. "I mean, there's going to be people looking at Clarksville that we would never know about, and their only window into the community is the website, and if we don't have a website that impresses and tells them what they need to know, then we've lost in a game we never knew we were playing."

Long term, he said his strategy to increase economic development will not merely focus on bringing new businesses to the area, but to focus on supporting and expanding existing industries and businesses. In addition, he wants to support local entrepreneurship. Stephens said he wants to foster strong working relationships with economic development organizations within the area and statewide.

He also hopes to increase the sense of community within Clarksville by making the downtown area "cool."

"It's not a dying downtown, it's actually pretty, I mean, there's not a lot of empty storefronts like you see in most towns, but there's not the restaurants and the places to just go be, and we need to make it a cool environment," he said.

A few years ago, Stephens said an economic development study was conducted and a strategic plan developed for the area. The creation of his position was the first step in implementing the plan, and his duty will now be to work to implement it. In the meantime, Stephens said he, his wife and their children are in a transition period as they work toward selling their home in Fort Smith and moving to Clarksville.

"It's definitely a transition period, and that may last a while," he said.